The key for a £4.0m defender is that they are someone who is actually involved in first-team action. There is virtually no point having someone in that bracket in your squad who isn't playing because they will be of no benefit to you when substitutions are needed and when you need to rotate your defensive assets.

At the beginning of the campaign we lamented the fact that, of the 16 currently on the game, there were no £4.0m options expected to be in first-team action for some time. For that reason, the £4.5m defenders were seen as the effective cost-savers.

But that has changed with the serious injury crisis in Newcastle's backline.

Centre-back Florian Lejeune (now £4.4m) and left-back Paul Dummett (£4.5m) were pulled out of the 2-0 opening weekend defeat at home to Tottenham with knocks and both of them still have unknown return dates.

Chancel Mbemba could be a great little enabler for you (Image: Getty Images)

Their injuries caused manager Rafa Benitez to shuffle his pack a little by moving Ciaran Clark (£4.5m) to left-back and pairing Jamaal Lascelles (£4.5m) with Mbemba in the middle.

The £4.0m man played 56 minutes against Spurs and the whole 90 against Huddersfield.

He currently leads the way among all £4.0m assets in the game with a whopping TWO POINTS! Everybody else has zero.

That may sound not massively exciting, especially given Newcastle's poor start to the season, but I still think Mbemba is worth monitoring.

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It must be said that, alongside Lascelles, Mbemba helped restrict supposedly in-form striker Steve Mounié to zero shots all game in GW2. The goal they conceded came from midfield wonderstrike.

And Benitez's Magpies don't face anyone above a 'THREE' on the FPL Fixture Difficulty Ranking (FDR) until they visit Liverpool in GW7.

Home games against West Ham United (GW3)and Stoke City (GW5) could easily result in clean sheets for Newcastle and away trips to Swansea City (GW4) and Brighton & Hove Albion (GW6), neither of which have scored yet this season, could prove even more fruitful.

Everybody is looking for a way to save money and get Marcos Alonso (£7.0m) in their team (Image: Getty Images)

At a time when Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso is seemingly desperate to prove his vertigo-inducing £7.0m price tag with his two goals against Tottenham at the weekend, someone like Mbemba could be invaluable to managers hoping to sign him.

Yes you'd probably have to take a four-point hit to get the two defenders in but if you are already slipping behind the early leaders in your FPL mini-leagues, it's this sort of under the radar movement of funds which could make all the difference.

Those who are planning on Wildcard-ing this week would do well to pay extra attention here too. You would obviously not have to worry about points hits and the key to a successful Wildcard squad is to find tidy little budget enablers (who are actually playing), just like Mbemba, to allow you the pricier options.